Author: a.manzo

Column number 82 – 2021

Incredible, but true. After many postponements and numerous cancellations, the fairs restart. Always a fundamental driver of marketing and sales in the machine tool and tube sector, trade fairs, although they are experiencing a moment of serious identity crisis following the improvement of remote multimedia tools, always represent a fundamental appointment: they, constitute an irreplaceable moment for the encounter between people, to see and touch the news first-hand, to build relationships.

It is incredible how the health emergency, while contributing in a decisive way to the launch of remote communication tools, their implementation and their improvement, has made it clear to us that personal communication needs to be present, otherwise, to when fed at a distance, it ends up by extinguishing itself and being supplanted by new habits, more linked to the physical universe and decidedly less to the virtual one.

Similarly, a further effect of the pandemic is that travel is now much more complex and difficult: tampons, quarantines, different practices from country to country that closely resemble the rules for expatriation and customs of the past. If thirty years ago to travel you needed a visa, document control, passport, with all the resulting difficulties and hitches, today it is necessary to have a green pass and, in many cases, even a tampon in the last 48 hours. Not to mention the increase in costs over the past two years.

Ergo: it is easier and more convenient to travel once and go to a fair than to travel more frequently for shorter periods to visit suppliers or see the machines in showrooms rather than in companies that have already purchased them.

Hence, fairs resume their central role, or will resume it shortly, if the conditions listed above will remain stable for some time.

We confess, we are quite curious to see what will happen to EMO and Made in Steel which will be held in Milan at the beginning of October: of course, the companies that have joined and will be present are not really many, but it is natural after the trauma of last 18 months. The curiosity concerns the visitors: how many and, above all, from which countries.

The restart of the exhibition sector is one of the great challenges of the machine tool sector and the steel supply chain: the game is still to be played but in recent months many matches have already been won. This is demonstrated by the numbers of a recovery that appears increasingly solid and that has already almost reached pre-pandemic levels. Of course, the recovery of all that was lost in 18 months, in terms of jobs, market positioning, revenue, will still be a long affair, but the encouraging signs are all there.

As for our magazine, if you want we can meet in Milan. We will be present with a stand in hall 5, lane A n. 23. We are waiting for you!

 

EMO milano 2021: appointment with “the magic world of metalworking” at fieramilano rho from 4 to 9 october 2021

It will be again Milan to host the next edition of EMO,the world machine tool exhibition considered as the most important trade show for the operators of the world manufacturing industry. Promoted by CECIMO, the European Association of Machine Tool Industries, EMO MILANO 2021 will take place at fieramilano Rho from 4 to 9 October.

Undisputed leading event in the trade fair panorama of the sector, EMO is a travelling exhibition alternately held in Italy and in Germany. This feature makes it unique in the world among the events dedicated to the machine tool, robot and automation manufacturing industry.

Appearing in fourth place in the international rankings for production and exports, the Italian machine tool, robot and automation system manufacturing industry has always played a major role in the worldwide scenario. Its product offering is characterised by a very high technological level – also thanks to the digital transformation supported by the provisions of Transition 4.0 – and by a strong customisation of solutions according to the demand requirements.

Machine tools, robots, production systems, enabling technologies, solutions for interconnected and digital factories and additive manufacturing will be the real key players at EMO MILANO 2021, which will transform fieramilano Rho into the biggest digital factory ever set up within an exhibition centre.

Organised by UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, the Italian machine tools, robots and automation systems manufacturers’ association, EMO will be held again in Italy after six years and after the success of the 2015 edition, actually being the first international exhibition event focused on the sector after one year of forced stop due to the pandemic.

A total exhibition area of 110,000 sq. mwill show the production of the industry, expression of the product offering of the over 700 exhibiting enterprises, among which 60% are foreign companies.

After all, the halls of fieramilano Rho will host the best international products proposed by the sector, more and more closely linked to the issue of interconnection that enables all those high value-added functions, which the manufacturing industry can no longer do without. Therefore, once again, EMO MILANO 2021 will be a meeting place for the most qualified operators of the industry, who are interested in planning new investments in production technology.

Besides the wide and varied product ranges on show, EMO MILANO 2021 will feature numerous side initiatives, such as EMO Digital, the exhibition space focused on digital technologies; EMO Additive Manufacturing, dedicated to one of the most promising  fields of the manufacturing production; EMO Start-Up, offering a view to the new enterprises working on the development of products and projects related to the world of production systems and metalworking; Speakers Corner, the arena that will propose speeches and in-depth analyses by exhibitors and organisers.

“This proposal – affirmed Alfredo Mariotti, General Manager of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE –will surely be able to attract operators from all main user sectors, among which automotive, aerospace, energy, various mechanical engineering, machinery, metal products, pharmaceuticals, furniture/home furnishings and electrical household appliances”.

The protocol on the safety measures for the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic spread, (already available on the exhibition website) implemented by the organisers and by the structures of fieramilano Rho exhibition centre, is a further incentive for the participation of the operators belonging to the sector, awaited from Italy, as well as from abroad, in line with the tradition of EMO MILANO 2021.

The event will open with the Inaugural Ceremony, scheduled to take place at the Auditorium of fieramilano Rho Service Centre, on Monday 4 October, starting from 10.30 am.

Constantly updated information and details regarding the exhibition are available on emo-milan.com

Made in Steel 2021: the spaces sold already tell of a success

The results were above expectations: despite the difficulties encountered due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to an inevitable decrease in international exhibitors, the ninth edition of Made in Steel is still to be considered a success in terms of exhibition space sold.

A trend in line with the previous edition, that of 2019, and expression of the high expectations that the national and southern European steel supply chain has towards the event. Made in Steel will be, in fact, in Europe, the first exhibition in attendance since the outbreak of the pandemic dedicated to steel operators.

All the major national players have confirmed their massive presence and there is a fair representation of international operators, with some “big” names and Turkey confirming itself as the first foreign country for number of exhibitors.

Made in Steel will be held at the same time as two important international trade fairs: EMO MILANO 2021 (4-9 October), the world machine tool fair alternately hosted by Italy and Germany, and VITRUM (5-8 October), the specialized international exhibition of machinery, equipment and systems for processing flat and hollow glass, glass and processed products.

The partial contemporaneity of the three events, which represent three strategic industrial sectors, will increase business and networking opportunities for visitors and exhibitors. The permeability of the three international events will also be promoted, in order to facilitate the circulation of visitors.

 

Column number 81 – 2021

The recovery of markets and production continues, even if the situation linked to the pandemic still causes considerable uncertainty as to how solid this recovery is actually. In spite of the lock-downs of last winter and spring 2021, of the forecasts of further restrictions related to the Delta variant, the machine tool sector is showing optimism, in a growth curve that has now lasted for several quarters.

At a European level, the machine tool industry is experiencing a moment of particular enthusiasm, not only from the point of view of production, but also from the point of view of orders which, during the first quarter of 2021, have seen growth both in terms of of the previous quarter, and compared to the same quarter of the year 2020. If in the latter case the growth was almost predictable, even if at the European level the lock-downs in 2020 took place between the beginning of March and April, that is, between the first and second quarters, the growth compared to the already positive fourth quarter of 2020 marks a point of particular optimism and positivity in the sector. Optimism and positivity that apply both to orders on the domestic market, which increased by 47% compared to the first quarter of 2020, and to those on the foreign market, which grew by 31%. Orders are also growing in Italy: in the first quarter of 2021, orders for machine tools from Italian manufacturers return to growth. In particular, the UCIMU index, prepared by the Association’s Centro Studi Cultura di Impresa, shows, in the first three months of the year, an increase of 48.6% compared to the same period of 2020. In absolute value, the index is is attested to 169 (base 100 in 2015).

The overall result was mainly determined by the excellent performance of manufacturers on the domestic market. On the domestic front, in fact, the Italian manufacturers report an increase in orders of 157.9% compared to the same period of the previous year. The absolute value of the index stood at 195.5. On the foreign front, orders grew by 30.5% compared to the period January-March 2020. The absolute value of the index stood at 155. Still at a European level, the industrial production index has returned to pre-crisis levels, another important sign of absolute positivity.

Another element of great importance that is still lacking in the global industrial landscape, beyond the possibility of moving easily for reasons of work and commerce, and directly connected to this, is the restart of the exhibition activity. There are events of great importance on the exhibition scene: in October it is time for Made In Steel, the event of the steel supply chain which in the spring was always postponed due to the pandemic; in November it is the turn of EMO, one of the world’s largest machine tool fairs that this year will see its stage in Milan, as part of the rotation with Hanover. These are two fundamental moments, which we will discuss in detail in the next issue, which should give the definitive signal to restart also for a sector that has suffered particularly in the last 18 months and which in history has represented a fundamental vehicle for promotion, marketing and sales.

 

Virtual show on the extrusion of PVC pipes: webinar on July 8, 2021

On 8 July Bausano will present the forecast on the world pipe market in the period 2021-2026 in a webinar. This was reported by Polimerica, who explains how Clemente Bausano, Vice President of Bausano, will open the works. The speeches by Roberto Sardella and Giorgio Critelli, Technical Sales Manager of the company, will follow. During the online meeting, the Bausano lines for the production of PVC and polyolefin pipes will also be presented. In the second session of the event we will talk about calibration benches and a 360° cooling system, using spray cooling, designed by Bausano specifically for pipes. The works will be closed by Technical Sales Manager Andrea Arbarelli, who will start the plant with a MD 75/30 Plus twin-screw extruder for the production of pressure pipes in soft and rigid PVC, transparent, filled or combined with acrylic resins. At the end of the event, participants will have the opportunity to interact live.